World Civ Unit 3

Protestant Reformation

Before Protestant Reformation: Power of the Church

• Princes and Emperors didn’t like sharing power with the Pope, but power increased when sanctioned by the Pope

• Unifying force with undisputed control in otherworldly issues and huge sway in worldly issues

• Could only get to heaven the church’s way

Church Gets Into Trouble

• Sells indulgences– Generates income: maintains power over the masses– Needs to finance patrons: Renaissance Artists– Paying for construction of St. Peter’s Basilica (Church in Vatican

City where the Pope lives)– Reduces time in Purgatory for self and for family members

already there

• Controls huge blocks of land• Doesn’t pay taxes• Temporarily 2 Popes: France claims their own for 7

decades• Church too concerned with wealth and power

Church Gets Into Trouble cont’d.

• Clergy not well-trained or spiritual– Some appointed for political purposes– Corrupt: spiritually bankrupt

• Early attempts at reform– John Wycliffe (Oxford University) Church should

return to spiritual values• Body burned and followers persecuted

– Jan Hus (Bohemia) urged reform• Burned at the stake• Led to decades long war

– Savonarola (Dominican Friar-Clergy) used violence to fight church

Martin Luther

• Frustrations: produced 95 Theses – Selling of indulgences– Worldly nature of Rome– Church services not in vernacular– Salvation by grace through faith, not by indulgences

or through the church– Don’t need church as intermediary: go right to Bible

• Diet at Worms: refused to recant, saved by Prince and not killed

Christianity Splits

• Consequences– Luther’s followers become Lutheran Church– New leaders emerge with other Biblical interpretations

• John Calvin: predestination of the elect• Huguenots in France• Pilgrims in US• Anglicans in England

– King Henry VIII creates the Anglican Church a.k.a. Church of England

• Pope refused his annulment• Allows King to confiscate church property

– Over 100,000 people died in the turmoil

Philosophical Consequences

• If the strongest institution, the Church, can be questioned, anything is fair game

• Nature of Universe

• Role of government

• Set a foundation for future revolutions

Protestant Beliefs

• Originally favored simplicity of the institution of the church, but when Protestant church grew too large—it often became too concerned with politics and bureaucracy like the Catholic Church

• Placed less emphasis on rituals and sacraments

• Opposed veneration of Mary and the Saints

• Only Grace through Faith can save sinful man, not Popes, Priests, or rituals

Protestant Beliefs

• Reading the Bible and interpreting it for self: contributed to higher literacy rates

• More lenient about divorce• Allowed clergy to marry• Rejected transubstantiation: communion

with wine and bread

Counter Reformation a.k.a. Catholic Reformation

• Gained credibility– Stopped selling indulgences– Trained priests and bishops requiring some spirituality– Jesuits: stricter training—began missionary push into

China, US, etc.• Reconfirmed absolute authority—wouldn’t budge

– Sunday Mass mandatory– Council of Trent 1545,1563 defined rules

• How to get salvation• Latin • Punished heretics

– Succeeds in winning back many converts

Results: European Conflict

• Southern Europe, France, and South Germany are Catholic

• Northern Europe, England, North Germany, Scandinavia are Lutheran, Anglican, or Calvinist

Effects of Reformation

• Luther’s insistence on Bible being translated into German/Vernacular spread literacy

• Support of German Princes led to increased nationalism

• Thirty Years War (100,000+ deaths) German Princes—Lutheranism vs. Catholicism– Germany can’t become unified nation

Effects of Reformation

• Religious wars freed Netherlands (Calvinism) from Spain

• Henry VIII separated England from Catholic Church– Made himself the head of the Anglican

Church– An Act of Supremacy

• Ended Medieval way where the Catholic Church was the sole source of stability in Europe

Effects of Reformation cont’d.

• Anticlericalism– Dismay over corruption of clergy– Luther said Priests weren’t necessary

• Growth of Middle Class continues—good works and material success a confirmation of salvation

• Created a Middle Class that would eventually help establish democracies

• Increased questioning of political authority

Effects of Reformation cont’d.

• Strengthened the power of Monarchs/Kings as Papal power decreased

• Encouraged education—Protestants wanted children to be able to read and interpret the Bible

• Improved the status of women WITHIN marriage—writers encouraged love between man and wife

• Created even more Protestant churches